Evaluating the usability of an interactive, bi-lingual, touchscreen-enabled breastfeeding educational programme: application of Nielson’s heuristics

Abstract

The study purpose was to conduct heuristic evaluation of an interactive, bilingual touchscreen-enabled breastfeeding educational programme for Hispanic women living in rural settings in Nebraska. Three raters conducted the evaluation during May 2013 using principles of Nielson's heuristics. A total of 271 screens were evaluated and included: interface (n = 5), programme sections (n = 223) and educational content (n = 43). A total of 97 heuristic violations were identified and were mostly related to interface (8 violations/5 screens) and programme components (89 violations/266 screens). The most common heuristic violations reported were recognition rather than recall (62%, n = 60), consistency and standards (14%, n = 14) and match between the system and real world (9%, n = 9). Majority of the heuristic violations had minor usability issues (73%, n = 71). The only grade 4 heuristic violation reported was due to the visibility of system status in the assessment modules. The results demonstrated that the system was more consistent with Nielsen's usability heuristics. With Nielsen's usability heuristics, it is possible to identify problems in a timely manner, and help facilitate the identification and prioritisation of problems needing urgent attention at an earlier stage before the final deployment of the system.

Information and Communication Systems to Tackle Barriers to Breastfeeding: Systematic Search and Review

“…A total of 9 papers [25,33-40] studied 8 educational interventions for mothers. The majority of these interventions focused on digitizing existing knowledge into generic learning modules with multimedia to aid explanation [25,34,35,38-40]. Geoghegan–Morphet et al [25] offered a Web-based forum in addition to educational resources.…”

“…For instance, Abbass et al [33] involved an indigenous community to craft culturally relevant educational resources. Similarly, Joshi et al [35,39] customized educational content to suit Hispanic mothers.…”

“…In this group, 4 learning and training systems [23,41,42,44-46] and 4 client applications [35-37,39,40] were identified.…”

“…A total of 4 client applications [35-37,39,40] are self-service desktop programs to communicate breastfeeding information. These systems came in various shapes: interactive software running on touchscreen kiosks in clinics [39,68], software provided via CD-ROM [40], interactive agent that simulated lactation consultation [36], and breastfeeding quest game [37].…”

In this issue: Ontologies a key concept in informatics and key for open definitions of cases, exposures, and outcome measures

“…We have previously asserted that usability is a long neglected theme in informatics12 – and we welcome the paper by Joshi et al not only for its subject matter (use of a bilingual touchscreen to provide breastfeeding education) but also for its use of a classic approach originally described by Neilson some two decades ago 13. Neilson described the application of heuristics.…”